Your Muddy Boots
Adventure Passport
Looking for ways to make the festive season extra special? Make this Christmas your best adventure yet with a whole host of seasonal activities fit for the outdoors and at home!
Celebrate Christmas, Muddy Boots style
Use the icons below to navigate between each activity in your Adventure Passport for some more information and ideas on how you can do it at home.
Visit a Christmas Market
Both York and Leeds have their own Christmas markets to explore, along with many other towns/cities across Yorkshire.
York’s market lines Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square. The market is open daily until 21st December, meaning there’s lots of time to explore it’s local businesses if you haven’t already. You can view a full list of traders here - whether or not you find the perfect gift, there’s lots to explore.
Also running until 21st December is Leeds’ Christmas market, taking place across City Square, Millennium Square, and Victoria Gardens. The market is full of stalls made up of local businesses, as well as fairground rides and even an ice rink! Whilst you're in the city, why not explore the Corn Exchange for even more local businesses and gift inspiration?
Create Nature Ornaments
Collect natural materials from your garden or on a walk around your local area to make some nature-based ornaments to add to your tree! Glue or tie together small sticks and twigs to create a snowflake, painting them blue or white and adding glitter for some extra sparkle. Paint leaves like miniature trees, or turn them into other festive characters like a snowman or reindeer. Get reactive with it and let your little one’s imagination run wild!
See Narnia at Nostell
Whether you’ve got your free National Trust membership or just fancy a special day out, Visit Nostell to Discover the world of Narnia. See the story come to life as you wonder through the house, and on weekends you can complete your journey with a visit to the glass house where little ones can meet Santa!
The house is open to explore until 5th January, find out more by visiting the National Trust website.
Read a Christmas Story
Get cosy at home and spend some extra quality time with your little ones by reading a Christmas story. Whether you read in the daytime, at bedtime, or save it for Christmas eve, huddle up, get comfy and share a story you love. If you don’t have any stories to hand, or you’re looking to get a bit creative, you could try coming up with your own story together. Not only is storytime a wonderful bonding experience to share with your family, its also great for developing your child’s imagination, and it can come in handy if they’re struggling to sleep! What stories will you share this Christmas?
Nature’s Noel at Nunnington Hall
Another National Trust Location hosting a magical Christmas is Nunnington Hall, where you can explore the grounds and see how they incorporate nature into their festive displays. The Hall itself is full of Christmas trees, each decorated by local charities and community groups, and is open all day Friday - Sunday until 14th December. Perhaps you’ll find some inspiration for handmade decorations and gifts, as well as some ideas on how to incorporate sustainability into your own festive traditions. Find out more about Nature’s Noel on the National Trust website.
Go for a Winter Walk
You already know we love the outdoors here at Muddy Boots, and we want our families to get outdoors as much as possible! Wrap up warm and brave the colder weather by going on a winter walk. Whether you stay local or go somewhere further afield, there are plenty of places to explore! If you’ve got your National Trust Membership, check out our blog to find some of the fantastic sites to visit across Yorkshire.
Whilst you’re out on a walk, go on the hunt for some fallen leaves, sticks, pinecones, etc. as they’ll be great for the Nature crafts in the rest of the Adventure Passport. But most of all, enjoy your time outside, and share what you get up to with us on Famly!
Little Thrivers Nature Play
Visit Homestead Park in York for some outdoor fun, where you and your children can learn new skills at the Little Thrivers Nature Play sessions. For just £1 per family, you can enjoy an hour long session of nature based learning and play during your visit to Homestead. Running on Mondays throughout December, January, and the whole of 2026, there is plenty of opportunity to get stuck in with these sessions. Pre-booking is preferred and guarantees your slot - head to the Homestead Park website to find out more.
Christmas Themed Sensory Tray
At Muddy Boots, we love sensory trays, and your little ones do too! Why not try exploring Christmas in a new way with some sensory trays? Whether you get a little bit messy with a fake snow tray or scented play dough, or make use of spare festive items like wrapping paper, baubles, tinsel and more, this activity is a great way for your child to explore Christmas in a tactile way. There are lots of recipes and ideas online for creating your own sensory trays, so pick what works for you and something your child will enjoy.
Fountains Abbey Toymaker Workshop
At Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden, you’ll find the Christmas Toymakers Workshop where children can choose a wooden toy to make and take home! This is a special event organised with the National Trust and with sessions running throughout the day from 20th - 23rd December. Pre-booking is required for this 40 minute workshop with easy to follow instructions and guidance from the team to help your child make their own special toy.
With the limited number of sessions, attending the workshop may not be possible, however Studley Royal in itself makes a great place to visit any time of year. Regardless of whether or not you visit, there are ways you can bring the Workshop to the comfort of your home. Bring the magic of Santa’s workshop to life by making your own toys and festive creations at home with cardboard, playdough, or any other craft materials you may already have!
Build a Nature Christmas Tree
Whilst out on an adventure, or in a garden at home, challenge yourself and your little ones to build a christmas tree out of natural materials. Line up different sized sticks and twigs into a triangle to build the base of your tree, and decorate it with some more natural finds like fallen leaves and pinecones.
As a little bonus activity, design your own pinecone Christmas tree by painting pinecones green and decorating them however you like! Cover them in glitter, stick on mini pompoms for baubles, add pipe cleaner tinsel or top it off with a little cardboard star. Once your pinecone tree is complete, either glue on a cardboard base to help it stand, or attach some string to hang it from your Christmas tree.
Christmas Crafts at Beningbrough
Handmade gifts are something your family will treasure. Spend some time getting creative with your little one this Christmas in the craft rooms at Beningbrough. There, you’ll find plenty of supplies to create something magical, perfect for keepsakes or to give to a loved one. The craft rooms are open 11am - 3pm on the top floor of Beningbrough Hall, meaning you can drop in at any point during your visit to the National Trust site. Your child can also write their letter to Santa in the hall which makes a great extra activity to do during your visit.
Festive Scavenger Hunt
For a fun and free festive activity at home, why not set up a festive themed scavenger hunt? Create a treasure map of your home or garden and hide some special Christmas treasure for your little one to discover, or set up some clues for them to find along the way. Not only is this a great way to get them outdoors from the comfort of your own home, but it also helps build their imagination and, especially for older children, supports their problem solving skills when looking for clues.
Bake a Festive Treat
Baking is a great way to support your little one’s development as it involves a variety of skills that are physical, emotional and social. There are lots of fun, festive and child friendly recipes online, as well as some that don’t require an oven. Choose a recipe yourself or pick one together with your child, and work together to make something delicious! Add an extra step to the activity by baking something that you can decorate together as well, and let your creativity run wild!
Keighley Christmas Window Trail
Explore Keighley Town Centre with the Christmas Window Trail! Organised by Keighley BID, families are invited to search for the 18 different clues hidden in shop windows across the town. Pick up your map from the Airedale Centre and make your way around the centre to discover all the clues and a variety of local businesses.
You also have the chance to win up to £100 of shopping vouchers by filling out the form on the back of your map! Find out more about the Trail, competition entry and participating local businesses on the Keighley BID website.
Make Salt Dough Ornaments
Get creative with your family this Christmas by making salt dough ornaments. There are lots of recipes for salt dough online, giving you and your child an opportunity to get really hands on with the making process, however you can also use air dry clay to create ornaments too! Use spare cookie cutters if you have them to hand, make some stencils from card, or go completely freehand and design your own shapes. You can also have a go at making some keepsakes by pressing your child’s hands or feet into a circle of dough, and marking their name and the date on the back. Once all your ornaments are completely dry, keep them as they are for a more minimalist feel, or paint and decorate them to your heart's content.
Build a Snowman
Building a snowman is always a fun activity at Christmas, but we may not get any snow! If a white Christmas isn’t in the cards for 2025, there are plenty of ways you can get creative with building a snowman. Use a fake snow sensory tray full of cotton balls and shaving foam for a fun (and slightly messy) way to build your snowman, or cut and paint some cardboard into the shape of a snowman. You could also try to incorporate nature into your snowman building by painting pinecones or leaves into a more abstract interpretation - there are so many possibilities!
Meet Mr & Mrs Claus
Another highlight of Christmas is getting to meet Father Christmas. There are lots of events across Yorkshire where you and your little one can meet Santa.
Hop on the White Rose express for a unique Santa’s grotto experience set inside a vintage train carriage! The grotto is open until 24th December, with quieter, SEN focused sessions every Tuesday morning from 10am - 10.30am. Tickets are £6.50 with a £1.50 family booking fee, and include a special gift - find more details and availability here. Santa will be wandering around Leeds’ Kirkgate Market on Saturdays throughout December from 12 - 3pm, during which you can take photos with him and receive a little sweet treat as you explore the market and all its local businesses.
Santa will also be visiting the York Designer Outlet right up until Christmas Eve, giving children the opportunity to meet him and receive a special gift. Tickets are £7 per child with a £1.50 family booking fee - booking is recommended for this event as it can get quite busy! The York Ainsty Santa Sleigh will also be travelling around York throughout December, and you can find locations, dates and times of the sleigh’s arrival here.
Visit our blog to discover a selection of meet and greet events with the National Trust.
Design a Christmas Card
A simple but fun activity to do during the festive season is making Christmas cards with your child. Not only is it a great way to share something handmade with your family, it can also be good for using up any craft materials you have around the house. Whether your little one paints, draws or sticks on different materials, they’ll have lots of fun coming up with their own interpretations of Christmas.
Create Your Own Adventure
If you have your own events or activities in mind for the festive season, make your own additions to the Adventure Passport by adding them to the final page! You’ll find 6 blank spaces perfect for fitting in your own ideas, traditions, and more, helping you to personalise your Christmas Adventure with your family.
We hope you have a wonderful time on your adventure during the festive season! No matter how many activities you manage to complete, doing so with your family is the most important part.
Thank you for another fantastic year at Muddy Boots, we can’t wait to see you in 2026!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Team Muddy Boots x